Now five-year jail term for ‘organised’ exam cheating

Raipur, July 9 (IANS) The Chhattisgarh state assembly Wednesday passed a bill that provides for up to five years in jail for those found guilty of aiding students to cheat in exams, besides fining the candidates. School Education Minister Ajay Chandrakar moved the ‘Copying in Examination (Prevention) Act, 2008′ that was passed amid protests by the opposition Congress. It termed the bill a “black law in the education sector”.

Chandrakar said: “Exam forgery is in practice in an organised way in several parts of the state and some groups even attack senior education officials while they try to inspect exam centres.” He added that Chhattisgarh desperately needed a tough law to check cheating in public exams to ensure “quality education in the state”.

But Congress members said the law was too tough and unwarranted since the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provisions were enough to crack the whip on education mafias.

The bill’s passage come close on the heels of two students being charged with forgery after their Class 10 and Class 12 exam results were announced.

The two accused were Porra Bai, who stood first in the Class 12 exam , and Himani, who ranked third in the Class 10 exam. Apart from the two girls, 16 people, including two school principals, 12 teachers and Himani’s father Ramesh Tiwari, were charged with “forgery and cheating”.

The charges were filed at Janjgir district’s Bahminidih police station last month on the request of the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education.